Date: September 5, 2003

EXPORT SALES ARE SOARING

The World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia (WTCGP) today announced that it assisted in generating $40 million in export sales for more than 600 area companies for the fiscal year ended June 30. The $40 million mark is an 18 percent increase over last fiscal year and represents the creation of 520 new jobs.

For the fiscal year, the WTCGP hosted and co-sponsored 23 trade education seminars. It hosted the first "World Trade Centers Day" dinner last June and the State of the Port Address luncheon. It also supported several state and city organized trade missions and trade shows. The WTCGP offers one-on-one international trade consulting, market research and educational opportunities through various seminars and events

"The numbers represent a clear and measurable fulfillment of the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia's mission of regional economic development through international trade," said Joanna Savvides, President of the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia.
The WTCGP is partially funded by the Delaware River Port Authority, PA Department of Community and Economic Development Office of International Business Development, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation and Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

To find out more about WTCGP, please call (215) 218-3750 x 2057 or (856) 968-2057 or visit our website at www.wtcphila.org.

The World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia is a Pennsylvania 501
(c)(3) non-profit corporation. WTCGP is a licensed member of the World
Trade Centers Association and evolved from the Export Development Unit
of the Delaware River Port Authority. It offers a number of programs
such as one-on-one consulting through an extensive network of
international trade consultants, market research reports, customized
export/import strategies, and educational opportunities through
seminars, international trade missions and networking events.